Farrar to MCC, stat!

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Jessica Farrar

By Taylor Cameron

Muscatine’s very own Jessica Farrar is back. The former MCC nursing student worked at Trinity Muscatine hospital after graduation. Now she is back to teach nurses-to-be.

While at Trinity Muscatine hospital for almost six years, Farrar worked in the operating room.

“It takes a special person to work down there. There are some things down there that other people would call gross, but I call it fascinating,” said Farrar.

“I know a lot of people that are from here and say that there is nothing to do around here, but I graduated with 17 people so there is a ton to do around here.” — Jessica Farrar

Farrar comes from Maryville, Mo., a small, northwest Missouri town known for its college football team. “If we did not have a college there, it would be a blip on the map,” said Farrar.

She moved from her small town to Muscatine and has lived here for seven years. She felt like it was the right fit for her to stay here in the community after graduating, even though she misses Maryville.

“I know a lot of people that are from here and say that there is nothing to do around here, but I graduated with 17 people so there is a ton to do around here,” said Farrar.

No one, in particular, inspired her to become a nurse. Farrar said that she has always had a caring demeanor and is always looking out for others before thinking of herself.

“Nursing kinda fell into my lap,” said Farrar. Nursing was a good fit because she began her career as a Certified Nursing Assistant knowing that she would later be going into the nursing field.

Ellie Sweet, who was a former MCC nursing instructor, inspired Farrar to come back and teach future nurses.

Farrar hopes she can be an Ellie to her students.

“Thinking about all the nurses that I worked with who were educated by her is how I want my students to feel when they walk around their field knowing that they were taught by the same person,” said Farrar.

Since Farrar taught labs and clinical as an MCC student, she already had a foot in the door for the teaching position. Her transition was smooth and seamless.

Her favorite subject to teach is the cardiovascular system because it controls the whole body.

The subject she least likes teaching is pharmacology because she is not a math teacher.

Student Lisa McGonigle Kellogg says she likes how Farrar challenges students to change their ways of thinking and evaluate situations from multiple angles. “It is a very hard program but she makes it fun,” says Kellogg.

“I admire her openness and her silliness towards working with us,” said Kellogg. When students noticed Farrar’s new outfit, she strutted around the classroom and said, “fashioned by Walmart.”